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Meadow Brook Park, Arlington
Menotomy Rocks, Arlington Arlington Reservoir, Arlington McLennen Park, Arlington Spy Pond, Arlington Arlington Great Meadows, Lexington Dunback Meadow Area, Lexington Shaker Glen, Lexington Whipple Hill/Locke Farm Wildwood Cemetery/Horn Pond Brook, Winchester Sandy Beach, Winchester Brooks Estate/Fells, Medford Horn Pond, Woburn Shaker Glen, Woburn Cummings Estate, Burlington Rock Meadow, Belmont |
Meadow Brook Park
Meadow Brook Park (Arlington)
This is the official name of the marshy area in back of Mount Pleasant
Cemetery in Arlington. To get to Mount Pleasant, take Mystic Street out
of Arlington center, and just across from the Police Station is a tiny
road called Sachem Avenue, which leads right into the Cemetery. Go to the
end of the road, turn left, and take your first right over a bridge, and
turn left. There is a break in the fence that at this point is the entrance.
Great spot for fall sparrows. Look also for sandpipers and herons in the
fall. The best Northern Waterthrush place in Arlington (spring and fall).
Menotomy Rocks
Menotomy Rocks (Arlington)
I haven’t explored the potential of this area, but other ArlingtonBirders
have, and it can be excellent in spring migration. Take Jason Street off
Mass Ave, and the entrance is pretty obvious (closer to Route 2).
Arlington Reservoir
Arlington Reservoir
(Arlington/Lexington)
On the Arlington/Lexington town line just north of Massachusetts Avenue.
From Arlington Center take Mass Ave to Park Avenue and turn right. Take
your first left on Lowell Street. Drive past the pond and park by the woods
on the left just beyond the pond (you’ll have to do a U-turn in order to
do so). Or stay on Mass Ave west and take the first right after Trader
Joe's on Drake Street and park in the public parking lot on the right.
There’s a public path around the Res. In early and late winter, excellent
for ducks (freezes mid-winter). In the fall, if they draw down the water
enough, it can be good for shorebirds, and Pectoral Sandpiper and Snipe
are regular fall visitors. The farm fields beside the pond are owned by
the Busa family, who are exceptionally public spirited, and have issued
an invitation to birders to explore fields for sparrows once the growing
season is over. They have a farm stand, so give them your business!
McClennen Park
This park, opened in 2004, is so new I can't find any map of it, so
I had to sort of fake it. This is a very rough approximation, but at least
it shows you where it is. The area around the parking lot is all playing
fields, and is useless for birding, but behind the fields and down the
short embankment is a path running from Wright Street to Reed Street, and
there are thickets, a small pond, and a weedy hillside that is excellent
for fall sparrows.
Spy Pond
Spy
Pond (Arlington)
Always a good spot for winter ducks. There is a public parking area
at the end of Pond Lane (off Mass. Ave.), but try lots of vantages around
the pond.
Arlington's
Great Meadows (Lexington)
Not to be confused with Great Meadows in Concord, this East Lexington
area is owned by Arlington. Follow directions to Arlington Res on Lowell
Street, but continue past, and take your first left on Lillian Road, then
your first right on Sheila Road. Take the public path at the end of Sheila.
Good spot for Woodcock, and all sorts of field and marsh birds in the breeding
season. Access to the Great Meadows is also available behind the Waldorf
School on Massachusetts Avenue, and the parking lot behind East Village
Nursing Home at the end of Bryant Road.
Dunback Meadow/Waltham Street Farms/Hayden
Woods
Dunback
Meadow (Lexington)
Large, open area in Lexington, that is a year-round treat. Woodcocks
display here in the spring. Explore the pine woods for owls. Explore the
paths for songbirds. Great spot to look for raptors. From Route 2 west,
take the Waltham Street exit toward Lexington, and take your second right
on Allen Street. Follow Allen when it turns right at the top of the rise,
and the entrance to Dunback is a short distance down on the left at the
metal gate. Access is also available from the Clark School at the end of
Brookside.
From Route 128, take Route 2 inbound, take the Spring Street exit (the
first one). The exit does a 180 turn, and when you come to Spring Street,
you turn right to cross over Route 2. Take your first right on Hayden,
and drive to the end, and turn left on Waltham Street. Drive past the golf
course on your left, and turn right on Allen Street.
Waltham
Street Farms Conservation Area (Lexington)
These are farm fields leased to the Busa family by the town, but the
Busas are extremely birder friendly, and permit birding in these fields
(please use common sense when there are crops in the ground!). They are
excellent for fall birding. There are two entrances on left side of Waltham
Street if you use the instructions to Dunback Meadow, above. One is just
before the White House Farms store, and the other is immediately opposite
the traffic light for the entrance to the school.
Hayden
Woods (Lexington)
There are many entrances to this area, but I enter from Valleyfield
Street. From Allen Street (see Dunback above), turn right on Waltham Street,
drive past the traffic light at Brookside, and take your next left on Bridge
Street. Take your first left on Valleyfield, and follow it to where it
dead-ends at a playground. Walk through the playground, and enter the path
that leads into the woods. This can be excellent in both spring and fall
migration, with a nice open understory which is good for looking for ground-loving
warblers like oporornus. Breeding birds are fine also.
Shaker Glen, Lexington
Shaker
Glen, Lexington
Heading toward Burlington Mall on Lowell Street in Lexington, turn
right on Fulton Road, and your first right on Rolfe Road, which dead ends
at the entrance. This is a tiny spot, but terrific for sparrows and warblers
in migration.
Whipple Hill/Locke Farm
Whipple
Hill/Locke
Farm (Winchester/Lexington)
There is an entrance to the Whipple
Hill section from a pull-off parking area in Johnson Road in Winchester
opposite Berkshire Drive, but I don't know this area well, but I offer
this from Andrea Golden. "Whipple Hill is a rocky hilltop with a great
view: good for watching migrating hawks, swallows, swifts, towhees. Going
downhill with Boston on your left leads back to Locke (or Loche) Pond."
I myself enter from the Locke Pond section. Take Johnson Road off Route
3 in Winchester, pass Ridge Street on the left, and take your next left
on Cox Road. Park in front of the marsh, and walk down the dirt road beside
the marsh (High Street) and look for the path into the field. I like this
place.
Wildwood Cemetery/Horn Pond Brook Bikeway
Wildwood Cemetery (Winchester)
A fine spot in spring migration. It has a nice hill in the center,
where you can look down into the treetops on the hillside. Also, at the
back of the cemetery, the compost area has some nice weedy area for sparrows
in fall migration. Take Route 3 from Arlington into Winchester, and turn
right at the light at Church Street. Turn left at the light at Fletcher
Street, and then through the 4-way stop sign at Wildwood Street. The entrance
is immediately after this intersection on the left.
Horn
Pond Brook Bikeway (Winchester)
It's funny, this is just a dinky little path that only goes a few hundred
yards, but it can be incredibly productive. Two years running I have found
Connecticut Warbler in fall migration, and in spring migration there's
always a nice collection of warblers. Follow the instructions to Wildwood
Cemetery, but instead of turning left into the cemetery, keep going straight,
turn left after the cemetery onto Middlesex Street, then right on Fairfield
Place. At the end, there is a parking lot for the DPW. Park outside, and
walk in, and at the back follow a small path down to the bikeway, and turn
left.
Sandy Beach
Sandy Beach (Winchester)
At first glance you see the grassy picnic and frisbee lawn and are
unimpressed, but walk back to the little pond, and further back to the
pine woods. Can be excellent birding. From Arlington center, take Route
60 across the river, and turn left on Mystic Valley Parkway. The lawn is
obvious on your left, and it is the only major parking area (there are
many small parking areas). Pull in and enjoy.
Brooks Estate/Middlesex Fells
Brooks Estate
(Medford)
The public area is located in back of Oak Grove Cemetery in Medford,
and is a devil to find if you have never been there before. The cemetery
is easy: take Route 60 across the river into Medford, then after you cross
the railroad tracks, take an immediate left on Playstead Road. The cemetery
is at the end of Playstead on the left side. To find the Brooks Estate,
look for the pond, then leave it to your right, and follow it around until
it exits the cemetery area into the estate. Excellent during both migrations.
Both species of Cuckoo have bred here in the past. The cemetery itself
can be good for warblers during migration, but is pretty barren otherwise.
Middlesex Fells - Ramshead section (Medford)
My own special place. Take Route 60 across the river into Medford,
then after you cross the railroad tracks, take an immediate left on Playstead
Road. You can park at the end of Playstead, then cross Route 38 (Winthrop
Street) to the path into the Fells. Or, you can turn left on Route 38,
then take your first right on Winford Way. Stay right until you pass all
the houses, and there’s a small woody area with a path on your right. Red-bellied
Woodpeckers have been nesting there for over a decade.
Horn Pond (Woburn)
Horn Pond (Woburn)
Great spot for a walk, and your reward is nice birds. Take Route 3
(Mystic Street) into Winchester (where it becomes Cambridge Street), and
turn right on Pond Street. Take your first left on Arlington Road, then
your first left on Sturgis Street. There’s plenty of street parking. Although
there’s a path around the main part of the pond, I prefer the path around
the upper section. Walk across the dike, then turn right at the end of
the dike. Plenty of area to explore, including the power lines that go
over Horn Pond Mountain, and the Community Gardens (which are on the Lexington
Street end of Horn Pond). Almost anything could be found here. You can
also enter on Lexington Street. Go up Route 3 into Woburn, and turn right
on Lexington Street. Go under the power lines, past Willow Street and the
Fire Station on the left, and turn right just before a white split rail
fence. What looks like a driveway leads to a dirt opening where there is
room for two or three cars to park (hence not always available).
Shaker Glen (Woburn)
Shaker Glen (Woburn)
Follow Route 3 (Mystic Street) in Arlington to 4-corners in Woburn,
and take a hard left on Lexington Street. Take your first right on Glenwood,
first right on Waverly, and right at the end on Summit. You will see the
sign at the end of Summit. This area is just a strip of land climbing up
a hill along the edge of a stream. At the bottom there is a small cattail
marsh (with the inevitable phragmites starting to encroach). As you walk
up the hill, you enter a mixed woods that changes to largely hemlocks.
I haven't done a lot of birding here, but it has a lot of potential.
Cummings Estate (Burlington)
Cummings Estate (Burlington)
This is a bit out of the Arlington area, but it’s so nice it’s worth
sharing. Take Route 3 (Mystic Street) into Winchester (where it becomes
Cambridge Street), then into Woburn. Just before you leave Woburn, turn
left on Bedford Road. And then left onto the access road to Northeastern
(there’s a sign). Cruise the edges of the parking lot for sparrows (year
round), but the best access is at the back of the parking lot on the left.
There is a gate and a “no trespassing” sign. OK, I don’t recommend trespassing
*ever* but I make an exception here, because this is a well-used recreational
area with legal access from a number of other places. I don’t know why
the sign is there. While the campus itself is private property, I have
checked with the security people many times, and they always are welcoming
to birders. Other ways to get to the property are off Blanchard Road which
is the next left after the access road to Northeastern.
Rock Meadow (Belmont)
Rock Meadow (Belmont)
Outstanding in the fall for sparrows, one day Bob Stymeist and I stood
in one spot and tallied a chat, Philadelphia Vireo, Connecticut Warbler,
and Olive-sided Flycatcher. The community gardens are excellent, but explore
the whole area for great birding. Take Route 60 into Belmont, and turn
right on Concord Avenue. Follow up the hill, then down again till it comes
to a merge with Mill Street. Take a hard left, and look carefully
for a dirt driveway on the right (it goes downhill into a parking area).
If you pass a house on the right, you've gone too far. It's really well
hidden.